


the moon and her shining light

by shoemaster



Category: folklore - Taylor Swift (Album), folklore: Teenage Love Triangle Trilogy - Taylor Swift
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Just gals being pals, POV Outsider, unknowing love quadrilaterals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28105896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoemaster/pseuds/shoemaster
Summary: Inez always preferred talking about other people, rather than herself.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	the moon and her shining light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brandnewsoul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandnewsoul/gifts).



> Happy yuletide, brandnewsoul! 
> 
> Thanks to Taylor Swift for getting us all through this fucker of a year, with albums I will tinhat as queer until the end of time. To B and K for proof reading this for me.
> 
> Title from Black Betty & The Moon by The Horrible Crowes

_may_

Cher Horowitz had it right, Inez thought as she eyed James Adler across the dark gym; boys _would_ just roll out of bed and expect girls to swoon. This was beyond even that though, because it was _prom_ and he was wearing the same thing she’d seen him wear skateboarding a thousand times before. Probably even down to his busted up Vans.

Darren wasn’t the most exciting date, but at least he was wearing a tux and had gotten her a corsage. 

“Did you want any punch?” Inez asked August Williams, as she poured herself a cup.

“Oh, uh. No thanks,” August said. She was also looking towards James, who was scowling as he watched Betty Tucker dance with Brian’s friend Kyle.

“I can’t believe they let him in wearing that. Do you think Mr. Mac has seen him?”

“Probably not.”

Shit, Inez had seen August and James hanging out a few times, if they were friends, she probably shouldn’t talk shit about him. “Are you here with anyone tonight? Your dress looks great.”

It was black, or maybe dark purple, and much sleeker than Inez’s mother would have let her buy.

“Oh thanks. I’m just here with a group of friends.” August nodded to a few other senior girls dancing together.

“Nice. I came with Brian Jones, we’ve got chemistry together.” Inez paused. “The class, I mean. Not like -”

This is why she preferred talking about other people, rather than herself.

August smiled kindly. “I figured. I should get back to my friends, you have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too!” Inez said.

Honestly, the rest of the night was kind of boring, until a member of the boys’ volleyball team puked in the corner, giving Inez and Brian an excuse to round up Chris, Trina and everyone else so their limo could leave early. The drive back to Trina’s was only a little awkward, as Chris and Trina made out the entire time, but at least Brian didn’t try to make a move on her. All in all, it could have gone worse.

_june_

Inez would never tell her mother, but after the first few weeks of summer, when the novelty of sleeping in and being free from homework wore off, things got kind of boring. She didn’t even mind working at her uncle’s store, because it gave her something to do while her friends were all working _their_ summer jobs or off touring colleges. 

Sometimes she didn’t know if she envied or pitied Betty, who spent two months at her dad’s place up in Oregon every summer. It was probably just as boring as things around here, but at least it would be differently boring. Maybe there were guys up there that were actually cute, or, like, at least hadn’t smeared paste in her hair when they were in the first grade. It made it kind of hard to think of them as anything but overgrown toddlers.

The bell over the door rang as it opened, and Inez looked up to see James and his skateboard head for the cooler in the back for the third time that week. He still didn’t say anything as he paid for the two cans of Red Bull - one for each pocket - and headed back outside.

“You have a nice day, too!” Inez said as the door shut again. “Asshole.”

Yeah, summer kind of sucked, but that was nothing compared to some of the local guys.

_july_

“Summer _rules_ ,” Inez told everyone gathered around the bonfire. Brian had gotten a permit for it and everything.

“Duh,” Miranda said as she took a sip of her beer and went back to talking to Pedro.

Inez watched the sparks from the fire lift up in the wind and wink out as they flew towards the ocean. It was a good night, even if Trina had ditched her for Chris, like, the second they got down to the beach. There were a few dozen people here tonight — nothing crazy, but enough to keep conversation moving — and Inez liked bouncing between groups of people.

“August! Hi!” Inez said, dropping down next to her in the sand. Her voice was maybe a little too loud, but August just smiled.

“Hey, how’s your summer going?”

“Good, you know. Working a lot, but I should be able to get myself a car by the time school starts. How about you?”

August looked down at the sand and smiled. “Good, you know. Just hanging out. I didn’t even know this was happening tonight, I was just here at the beach when some people started showing up.”

“Well I’m glad you’re here,” Inez said. “And ugh, I’m so jealous. If I’d been here all day my hair would be a mess, but yours is doing, like, perfect beachy waves.”

She reached out and brushed her fingers through what would be a snarl on her head, but just looked great on August. “It’s so soft, even. Mine would never.”

As if to prove her point, a gust of wind blew up the beach, sending her hair flying into her face.

“Do you want a hair tie?” August asked. “I always have extras.”

“You’re a lifesaver. Aren’t you cold?” 

Her shirt had long sleeves, but it was thin enough that Inez was pretty sure she could still see August’s bathing suit through the fabric. The bikini top looked dry, at least. “Do you want my hoodie? I mean, it’s Jason’s but I doubt he’d mind if you borrowed it, too. Or instead, it’s not like we could both fit in it at once.”

If it was a zip-up, they could have tried, but this was just a normal pullover. And anyway, Inez suddenly felt very warm, like the beer was hitting her all at once, so she really didn’t need it.

“No thanks, I’m fine, really.”

They sat together watching the fire until Trina came back from wherever she’d been with Chris and decided to try braiding Inez’s hair. It wasn’t until after the fourth attempt at a French braid that Inez looked up and saw August, over by the cooler, wearing James’s Vans hoodie.

Her stomach lurched. “Hey, Tri, I don’t feel too good. I think I’m gonna head home.”

“Puke and rally! Come on,” Trina said. “It’s still early.”

But Inez just brushed her off and wandered around the edge of the group until she found Pedro packing up his stuff. 

“Are you heading out?” she asked hopefully.

“Yeah, I got work in the morning. Do you need a ride?”

Not only did Pedro give her a ride home, but he let her eat the last tamale he had brought to sell to everyone as they got the munchies throughout the night. Al pastor was her _favorite_ and he wouldn’t even let her pay for it.

“Pedro, you’re the best. Like, for real. The nicest guy.” She wished she liked someone like him.

“It’s three dollars, Inez, it’s not that big a deal.”

“No, but like. You are. I’m gonna tell Miranda, she should know.” She’d seen Pedro watching her at a few parties over the summer.

“You don’t have to do that,” Pedro said. It was dark, so she couldn’t be sure, but he _sounded_ like he was blushing.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be super subtle,” Inez promised, pleased to have something to distract her from her twisting stomach.

_august_

Summer was going by way too quickly. Inez was pretty sure that it had been, like, last week that she had all the time in the world to do her AP Bio reading, but now there were only a few weeks until school started and she had seven chapters to get through. Which was bullshit, really, if you thought about it, because, like, shouldn’t the learning happen on _school_ time and not her time?

Technically, it was happening during her work time, because Uncle Diego didn’t care if she had her textbook behind the counter as long as she worked the register and got the rest of her job done.

The bell chimed on the door, and once Inez saw it was just James, she went back to making notes on photosynthesis. Hadn’t she learned this like three times already? Sure, now they were making it, like, way more complicated, but she couldn’t help but think that if they had just taught it this way the first time, she wouldn’t have to waste her time on it now.

The clunk of the Red Bull cans hit the counter next to her, as expected, but she was surprised to hear the light impact of a box, too. When she put down her pen and saw the box of condoms next to the drinks, she just _barely_ bit back a noise of complaint. Why was he buying these from her? There was a Walgreens just down the road in the real mall, and he could buy them from someone there, and make it so that Inez _didn’t have to think about his dick_. The shop wouldn’t miss the ten dollars. Inez would personally pay twenty dollars to not have to bag these up.

He wasn’t even looking at her, so he couldn’t see the anguish he was causing and just flipped through the magazine rack, like he cared about the latest Brad and Jen drama.

At least he didn’t try to make conversation, just shoved his money at her and took his bag and the change.

Inez tried to throw herself back into her Bio textbook, but she kept getting interrupted by other customers. Which was fine, really, it kept her mind distracted and some of them she was even happy to see.

“August, hi!” Inez said. “I have your hair tie. Or, I have a hair tie. I don’t know which one is yours, obviously.”

That wasn’t exactly true, in that it was a lie. The elastic she’d gotten from August that night at the beach was currently around her wrist.

August laughed, the glitter in her lip balm catching the light. “Don’t worry about it. I have to buy them in bulk.” She hesitated before putting a bottle of shiraz on the counter. “I can go somewhere else?”

Inez waved her off. It wasn’t like there was anyone else in the store. “Just so long as this isn’t some sting operation.” August shook her head. “Cool, is there a party happening later? I haven’t heard anything, but I’ve been stuck here all day.”

“Oh, um. No, I’m just hanging out with J - just hanging out with some friends.” August fiddled with the same magazine that James had looked at earlier.

“Oh that sounds nice. I hope there’s something else before school starts.”

August tucked the bottle of wine into her purse. “Yeah, I guess we’ll see.”

“Well either way, maybe we can hang before you head off to Berkeley and forget all about us.”

“For sure. Thanks again,” she said, patting her bag. “I’ll see you around.”

_september_

Only three periods into the first day of school and Inez was already counting down to graduation. Sure, it was fun catching up with everyone - Pedro and Miranda were totally dating now, and yes, she was taking at least a little credit for that - but the teachers had obviously missed the memo that _junior_ year was the hard one.

During study hall, Inez dropped down next to Betty, who she’d barely seen since she got back from Oregon. “Are you taking Bio this year? I heard we’re going to have our first test like, tomorrow. Isn’t that insane? I’m screwed if there’s a lot of questions about plants and shit, because that was the chapter I was taking notes on when James interrupted me to buy condoms, and ugh, I just tried to forget everything that happened that day.”

Betty kept staring at her notebook. “Doesn’t sound like it worked.”

“Right? Sucks to be me.”

She made a little hum of agreement as she pulled out her schedule again. “Hey, I have to run to the guidance office real quick to change my schedule, but I’ll see you later.”

“You’re not dropping Bio, right? I don’t think the first test will be _that_ bad, and Sara said her sister says it’s totally worth it for the college credits.”

“No, I, uh, just realized that my homeroom is too far from my next class, so I want to see if I can switch it.”

“Oh yeah, that makes sense, five minutes is nowhere near enough time -” Inez agreed, but Betty was already gone.

Inez sighed and reached into her backpack for her Bio notes. If she wanted a shot at getting into Berkeley, she should probably brush up on this stuff, no matter the unfortunate associations. Plus, if her grades were good enough, she could probably talk her parents into taking her up there to tour the campus. Maybe August would show her around. She could introduce Inez to guys there. Or anyone, really.


End file.
